A handy tutorial for intarsia knitters showing you an easy way to figure out yarn requirements for any project.
The intarsia technique might just be my favorite knitting technique of all time. However, with very complex motives, it’s easy to end up with a lot of unusable scrap yarn because you had to split your skeins among too many bobbins. In this tutorial, I want to show you a very easy way to calculate just how much yarn you need to wind on a bobbin without creating a lot of waste.
Step 1: Knit a swatch/one row
In the first step, I want you to knit a swatch. You are probably/hopefully knitting one anyway. If you are going to invest that much time into a complex intarsia project, it always pays off to go the extra mile. But here comes the important bit.
Somewhere in the middle of a row (at least 5 stitches away from the edge), I want you to take a little clippy stitch marker and pierce it right through your yarn, right after you’ve knitted one full stitch.
Next, work across for at least 10 stitches. The more, the better (but do stop 5 stitches before the edge on the other side). And then, you take a second clippy stitch marker to mark the very end of the last stitch.
Hints: Edge stitches always distort your gauge. That’s why you will always want to do this in the middle of a row. Secondly, you will ease up a bit after having knitted a couple of rows. That’s why your calculations will be more precise if you do this in the middle of a swatch rather than after just having cast on.
There is no need to continue knitting here. If you want to go the extra mile and you are working on a flat project, you could do the exact same on the purl side as well, and also place two stitch markers in between 10 or more purl stitches. I would, however, argue that if you purl tension differs significantly from your knit tension, then this will lead to visible rowing out, and you should rather work on that.
Step 2: Unravel the row and measure it
Once you’ve finished knitting that single row, you simply have to unravel it. Since you probably will want to use that swatch later on, simply knit a couple of stitches backwards (= tink; knit read backwards) to undo them.
Then, take a tape measure and measure the distance between those two stitch markers.
E.g.: 20 cm or 8 inches
Important: As you measure, tension the yarn in the exact same way you will be tensioning it when you want to measure out the yarn needed for your bobbins. The easiest way to do this is probably pinching the tail of the yarn and your tape measure between your thumb and index finger, and pulling both ends out simultaneously.
Step 3: Calculate your gauge
In the next step, you need to figure out your gauge. Or rather, your yarn consumption per stitch. But this couldn’t be easier and only requires a single easy partition.
Distance measured ÷ stitches knitted = yarn per stitch
E.g.: 20 cm ÷ 10 st = 2cm/st
Step 4: Calculate your bobbins
In the last step, you can use this yarn consumption per stitch to figure out the yarn requirements for your bobbins.
1) First, go through your chart and simply count the stitches you need to work in any given color. You will have to do this for every little color panel of your chart. Simply count the little boxes.
E.g.: 50 stitches in color B
2) Then, you need to do another short calculation.
Stitches needed * yarn per stitch = yarn needed for the bobbin
E.g.: 50 st * 2 cm/st = 100 cm
Now, please hold your horses and don’t start cutting your yarn yet. There are two more things you need to consider.
3) Your gauge will typically change slightly throughout a knitting project. Some days you will be slightly stressed and thus knit a bit tighter, and on other days, you will be more relaxed and knit looser. As a result, I would add 10% of a buffer.
E.g.: 100 cm * 1.10 = 110 cm
Note: If your project features a lot of complex color panels that feature lots of diagonals that are two, three, or even four stitches to the side, I would definitely consider adding a buffer of 15%. After all, you will need more yarn to bridge two or three stitches compared to your swatch, where the distance between each stitch was always minimal and the same.
4) At some point, you will also have to weave in the tails of your color panels. Once at the beginning and once at the end. So you have to add whatever length you feel comfortable with to tidy up the ends. For me, 7 cm is enough; others might feel more comfortable with 10 cm.
E.g.: 110 cm + (2 * 7 cm) = 124 cm
That is how much yarn I would wind on that bobbin. You will probably not be able to eliminate all waste. Intarsia knitting almost always means generating a bit of scrap. That’s okay, if you ask me. After all, if you calculate too tightly, you risk losing yarn chicken with each color panel. Since unraveling complex intarsia patterns is a pain, I feel a bit of scrap yarn is a small price to pay.
Further notes:
There are thousands of thousands of different intarsia patterns. Some, like my Love Sweater, have a lot of color blocks in the same color. Others might feature a lot of different colors, but you only need each color once or twice per row.
If the latter is the case, you can knit directly from the skein. This is probably the easiest way to prevent waste. Do be careful, though. Theoretically speaking, yarn cakes allow you to pull from the outside and the center at the same time. While this might sound especially smart, it can quickly turn an otherwise pleasant intarsia project into a nightmare. Why? Because there is no feasible way to untangle the ends anymore, since they are “glued” together.
Also, do realize that using bobbins comes with advantages and disadvantages. They certainly allow you to keep the yarn very close to the project, and this makes untangling very easy and often doesn’t even happen in the first place.
At the same time, you have to unlock and unwind the bobbin at the start of each color panel. And as you have switched to the next color, you need to rewind and re-lock it. This takes a lot of time.
For projects where you don’t need to join in a new color frequently, I personally prefer to knit from the skein instead. If you switch between turning your work clockwise at the end of a right side row and counter-clockwise at the end of a wrong side row, your colors will “magically” become untangled at the beginning of each right side row.
This system works very well as long as you don’t have to add further twists (like when you have to join in a new color or you need to carry colors across rows or stitches). So, say you have a very regular checkerboard or argyle pattern. Then I would knit from skeins (maybe secured on a yarn spool or so). If, on the other hand, I’d turn a complex picture into knitting, then I’d probably use bobbins.
Ultimately, I leave the decision up to you. I just wanted to get the idea across that you don’t necessarily HAVE to use bobbins. It’s a valid and time-proven option that works well for many knitters and many projects, but certainly not the only one.